'Longmire' is canceled by network A&E

The A&E series “Longmire” has been canceled by the network, but the show may yet survive.

According to Deadline, A&E did not renew the show for a fourth season but “Longmire” studio Warner Horizon will be seeking out other options for the program. 

“We would like to thank the phenomenal cast, crew and producers of Longmire, along with our partners at Warner Horizon, for their tireless work on three seasons of quality dramatic storytelling,” A&E said in a statement. “We are incredibly proud of what we have achieved together.”

“Longmire,” which is based on the book series by Craig Johnson, stars Robert Taylor as sheriff Walt Longmire. It co-stars Katee Sackhoff as sheriff’s deputy Vic Moretti, Lou Diamond Phillips as Walt’s friend Henry Standing Bear, and actress Cassidy Freeman as Walt’s daughter Cady. 

The show was A&E’s most-watched original programming ever, according to Deadline. And fans may not be pleased – the finale of the series' third season, which aired earlier this month, ended on a cliffhanger, wrote the website IGN. 

Author Johnson, who released his eleventh book in the Walt Longmire series earlier this summer, told Monitor contributor Erik Spanberg he once stopped to get a drink at a bar in Arvada, Wyoming, and was told by the bar owner that “Longmire” had some devoted fans. 

“I looked up [inside the bar] and there was a big sign on the bar back that said, 'Longmire Longnecks Monday nights,'” Johnson said. “I asked the bartender, 'What’s the story on this?' And he said, 'Craig, a lot of these ranchers out here, they don’t have satellite dishes or cable or anything. They all come in here and watch episodes of 'Longmire.'… And he said, 'The place is like the Super Bowl.' I said, 'That’s great.' And he said, 'You don’t know how great that is. The last show people used to come in and watch was 'Gunsmoke.'”